Bloober Team, the Polish studio behind Observer and Blair Witch, has reportedly been in merger and acquisition talks with a long list of companies. Stock exchange documents indicate said talks are now in their second phase, with the developer having been in contact with upwards of “a dozen or so” firms.
What the documents don’t reveal is whether or not such a decision will result in Bloober Team’s being acquired or purchasing another entity for itself. Video Games Chronicle, which spotted the files in question, notes that the studio’s small size suggests the former seems most plausible.
As of writing, there exists no confirmation on specifically which 12 companies Bloober Team has been conversing with; however, three are reportedly based in the United States. Two of the other firms are headquartered in Poland, while another is a UK-based entity.
It’s worth acknowledging that Bloober Team and Microsoft have developed an increasingly close relationship over time. Last year, Blair Witch was a timed console exclusive for the Xbox One, eventually making its way to the PS4 as well after a period of uncertainty. Presently, the Observer studio has an Xbox Series X exclusive project in development–Silent Hill-inspired The Medium—with no indication that it is planned for PS5 release. With Microsoft acquiring plenty of studios in recent years—including popular devs like Double Fine—its potentially purchasing Bloober Team does not seem too farfetched.
Bloober Team was founded in Poland more than a decade ago in 2008. While it produced a wide variety of titles during its early years of operation, the company is best known specifically for developing horror games, coming into particular fame within the last five or so years. 2016’s Layers of Fear counts as the first of such projects to truly put Bloober Team on the map.
[Source: Bankier.pl via Video Games Chronicle]
